The following edition of the text was used in the creation of this study guide: King, Lily. Heart the Lover. Canongate, 2025. Kindle AZW file.

Part I takes place in the 1980s. The unnamed female narrator meets Sam in a literature class, and they go on a date to a movie. Sam brings her to the Breach House, where he lives with Yash and Ivan. Yash accidentally refers to her as a “daisy,” explaining that the men nickname the women they date after Daisy Buchanan, a character from The Great Gatsby. She mentions quitting a golf scholarship, and they nickname her Jordan after Jordan Baker, another character in the novel. Jordan begins staying frequently at the Breach House. Ivan teaches them a card game called Sir Hincomb Funnibuster.

In February, Jordan visits Sam’s parents with him. They sleep in separate rooms. A misunderstanding about timing makes her late, and Sam and his parents blame her. A joke she makes at dinner falls flat. She and Sam argue during the drive home, and afterward Sam tells her to go back to her own place. In the days after the breakup, Jordan worries she will lose her friendship with Yash. Eleven days later, Sam visits her with an apology letter signed “Heart the Lover,” a name from Sir Hincomb Funnibuster, and they reconcile. Back at the Breach House, Yash and Ivan welcome her. The next morning, while Sam is at church, Jordan and Yash spend time together and grow closer. Jordan decides to stay an extra semester to write an honors thesis and signs up for a class with Yash. Sam criticizes her choice. Before Sam’s graduation, he and Jordan argue at a dance, and he knocks her to the ground. She leaves without speaking further to him or Yash.

Most students leave for the summer. Sam returns Jordan’s belongings with a note saying they are not meant to be together. Jordan burns it and works two jobs. A roommate tells her Yash called. Jordan meets Yash, who asks to stay on her couch. They spend time together; Claudette, a friend, insists Yash is in love with Jordan. Yash admits he helped write one of Sam’s apology notes. Jordan and Yash go home together and have sex, and Jordan realizes she loves him. Jordan and Yash become a couple and live together over the summer. Sam calls to say he is visiting, and Yash hides the relationship because Sam reacts angrily to the idea of Yash asking Jordan out. Whenever Sam visits, Yash avoids Jordan, which upsets her. After one visit, she tests Yash by avoiding him; he doesn’t notice, and she eventually tells him how she feels. They acknowledge the difficulty but find no solution. Jordan is offered a job in Paris caring for children and accepts, despite not wanting to leave Yash. They visit his family in Knoxville before she departs. Jordan leaves for Paris.

Jordan moves to Paris but spends most of her time missing Yash and waiting for his letters. He writes that he will visit in August, and she focuses on writing to him instead of her dream of writing fiction. During his visit, the partner of Jordan’s boss offers Yash a job in artificial intelligence; Yash first accepts but then decides to return home and save money to move to New York. Jordan dislikes New York but agrees to relocate for him. After Yash leaves Paris, she no longer enjoys living there. They plan to reunite in New York in January, but when Jordan arrives, Yash is not on the flight. His mother tells Jordan he has gone to Atlanta, which Jordan knows means he is with Sam. Jordan is pregnant and has not told Yash.

Part II, set twenty-one years later, is written in second person and addressed to Yash. Yash visits Jordan in Maine, where she lives with her husband Silas and sons Harry and Jack. Jordan wonders why Yash has come. His comment that her house resembles the Breach House irritates her.

After Yash failed to appear in New York years earlier, Jordan lived with her mother, who supported her through the pregnancy. Jordan gave birth to a baby girl she privately called Daisy and placed her for adoption. She never told Yash. She later heard from Yash when he called about Ivan’s death. He continued to write and asked to meet, but she refused.

In the present, During Yash’s visit to Maine, he has dinner with Jordan’s family. They play Sir Hincomb Funnibuster, surprising the boys when Yash already knows the game. During the evening, Yash asks for the “Heart the Lover” card, which he used to sign on notes to Jordan, and jokes about requesting its “wife.” Later, Jordan and Yash talk briefly about his life and Sam. Yash mentions he was hurt she didn’t contact him when her mother died. The next day he leaves, giving her a novel with an old story excerpt tucked inside. Silas asks whether Jordan told Yash about Daisy; she says no, but that she might someday.

Part III occurs seven years later. Jordan’s son Jack, now twelve, has brain tumors and is awaiting risky surgery. Jordan receives a message from Sam saying Yash is dying. With Silas’s encouragement, she flies to visit Yash despite waiting for news about Jack. At the hospital, Yash’s relatives greet her warmly and call her “Jordan,” a name only Yash has used for decades. She feels uneasy about seeing Sam, whom she has not seen since he knocked her down in college. Yash tells her he is happy to see her and has missed her.

At the hospital, Jordan learns Sam has been staying overnight in Yash’s room and Yash is close to Sam’s children. Doctors assume Jordan is Yash’s wife, and no one corrects them. Sam is kind to her, prompting Jordan to question her old assumptions about him. A friend of Yash says Jordan was “the one who got away.” Later, she calls Silas, who urges her to tell Yash about their daughter before he dies.

The next morning, Yash messages Jordan asking her to come early. He tells her he visited Maine after his diagnosis because he didn’t want to die without seeing her again. Sam joins them and they reminisce, then leaves. Yash tries to tell Jordan something, but family members arrive. When they are finally alone, he says he is no longer angry with her. Jordan is shocked, believing he had no reason to be angry. Yash insists he tried repeatedly to apologize after New York and that she shut him out. They are interrupted again by visitors, including children who adore Yash.

Jordan realizes she has missed her flight and calls Silas. More visitors arrive, including the District Attorney, showing Jordan how respected Yash is. Jordan and Yash resume discussing the past, and Jordan finally tells him she was five months pregnant when he failed to show up in New York. The news shocks him, causing his oxygen levels to drop. Jordan then checks her phone and sees that Jack has been scheduled for surgery in Houston the next night. Sam finds her crying, and she explains. Sam apologizes for knocking her down at the senior dance in college.

Jordan returns to Yash’s room. A relative mentions that Yash sends her books to Jordan every Christmas. Jordan leaves for her hotel and calls Silas, who is upset she missed her flight.

The next morning, Jordan tells Yash about Daisy, now 27, who may contact her someday but hasn’t. Yash asks Jordan to tell Daisy that he loves her if they ever meet. He wonders whether marriage would have made him happier but is suspects it wouldn’t have. Jordan apologizes for not telling him about the pregnancy earlier; he says he is glad to know now. Yash loses consciousness. Jordan holds his hand, whispers that she has loved him all her life, and leaves to fly to Houston. Silas unexpectedly meets her at the airport. She receives a message from Sam saying Yash has died. At the hotel, she joins her sleeping sons and feels peaceful in the moment. As she drifts off, Silas calls her by her real name, Casey.